Fallout 3: Welcome to the Wasteland
Friday, October 31, 2008
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It was with a bizarre mixture of fear and excitement that I anticipated the release of Fallout 3. As any of my friends know, I am a die-hard fan of the Fallout game series. I could rattle on at length about the fascinating nuances of the games. I even have a tattoo of the Weapons Handling perk from Fallout 2. (Go ahead and laugh. I don’t mind. We’ll see who’s laughing when I’m the one who has +3 to strength on all weapons checks during the zombie apocalypse.)
I’ve been waiting for Fallout 3 for years, now. Yet the newest incarnation of my favorite game had, in my mind, little to do with the originals. The real Fallout 3 was cut short just months before completion due to financial troubles involving the publisher, Interplay Entertainment. They sold the rights to Fallout 3 to Bethesda Softworks, a fact I did not find comforting. I was haunted by visions of Morrowind gone post-apocalyptic, and if that was the case I would be bored to tears. I have never enjoyed a game by Bethesda. Ever.
Despite myself, I pre-ordered the $120 collector’s edition: the Exclusive Survival Edition, complete with Pipboy 3000 alarm clock, Vault-Tec bobblehead and my very own Vault-Tec lunch-box. How could I not? This was the closest thing I’d ever get to the game I’d been waiting on for years.
Even as doubt shadowed me, I could hardly contain my excitement the day the game arrived. As I opened and examined each piece from my collector’s edition, I only became more eager to play the game itself. And quite honestly? I loved it. I have enjoyed almost every second, (barring the times when Corinthia, my character, got fragged by super mutants).
To say Fallout 3 is like the other Fallout games would be a lie. However, I never expected it to be. All of the same elements from previous games are there, but they’ve been put together in a completely different way. It definitely gives enough nods to the old series, while putting a new twist on the franchise. Considering what an excellent job they’ve done with it, I feel that this can only mean good things for the future of the series. Purists might argue against the newest work to bear the Fallout name, saying that it doesn’t accurately represent the legacy of previous titles. Yet I feel if nothing new is added, and no changes are made, Fallout would be doomed to stagnate and die.
The game is located in the ruins of Washington, D.C., also known as the “Capital Wasteland.” (An interesting side note is that it is repeatedly spelled “Capital Wasteland” instead of “Capitol Wasteland.” Oops, Bethesda!) The protagonist, a resident of Vault 101, is forced out into the Wasteland to search for his/her father after a complicated series of events implicating their involvement in a larger conspiracy with dear, old Dad. Left to wander aimlessly, the main character eventually comes across the town of Megaton, a small haven of civilization, or at least what passes for it in the Wasteland. Without revealing too much of the storyline, this is where the epic quest to find his/her father begins.
By far and large, my favorite aspect of Fallout 3 is the clever way that Bethesda incorporated the traditional turn-based combat system from the previous games into a workable, real-time compromise. Known as V.A.T.S, (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) the device on the player’s Pipboy allows them to “pause time” for a moment in order to strategically analyze the situation, take careful aim, and fire! Of course, the player can’t use this system indefinitely. How many times they can perform the designated action is defined by how many Action Points (AP) it costs out of how many AP the player currently has. If the player runs out of AP before their opponent is dead, they’d better have an accurate trigger finger, or a firm understanding of the better part of valor. At least until they regenerate enough AP to once again enter the V.A.T.S combat system for more targeted shooting. In addition, each action is played out in cinematic slow motion, and sometimes excruciating detail in the case of critical hits. (Can you say “Mutant head go ‘splody-boom!”? Or Vicious Dog go ‘splody-boom, as seen in the photo below.) 
I have yet to play through the entire game, but as it stands I highly recommend it, anyway. So if you’re looking for a good action-RPG to supplement your selection of the new games coming out this Fall, or even if you’re a long-time fan of the series having doubts, give Fallout 3 a try. It might be good for you. Gods know I’ve been nothing but addicted for the past week.
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